USPTO Patents Application 10597633

United States Patent and Trademark Office

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450

Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov

APPLICATION NO.

FILING DATE

FIRST NAMED INVENTOR

ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.

CONFIRMATION NO.

10/597,633

07/06/2007

Omer Einav

34651

4237

67801 7590 11/15/2011

MARTIN D. MOYNIHAN d/b/a PRTSI, INC.
P.O. BOX 16446
ARLINGTON, VA 22215

EXAMINER

THANH, QUANG D

PAPER NUMBER

3771

MAIL DATE

11/15/2011

DELIVERY MODE

PAPER

Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.

The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.

PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

\SIIIK*& ^lUtlwf f will f If ffCIf y

Application No.

10/597,633

Applicant(s)

EINAV ET AL.

Examiner

Quang D. Thanh

Art Unit

3771

~ The MAILING DATE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address
Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS,
WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.

- Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1 .136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1 .704(b).

Status

1 )□ Responsive to communication(s) filed on .

2a)Q This action is FINAL. 2b)K This action is non-final.

3) D An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on

; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.

4) D Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is

closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 CD. 1 1 , 453 O.G. 213.

Disposition of Claims

5) ^ Claim(s) 27-67 is/are pending in the application.

5a) Of the above claim(s) 27-41 and 43-50 is/are withdrawn from consideration.

6) D Claim(s) is/are allowed.

7) |EI Claim(s) 42. 51-67 is/are rejected.

8) D Claim(s) is/are objected to.

9) D Claim(s) are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.

Application Papers

10)D The specification is objected to by the Examiner.

1 1 )□ The drawing(s) filed on is/are: a)D accepted or b)D objected to by the Examiner.

Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1 .85(a).
Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1 .121 (d).

12) D The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.

Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119

1 3) D Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 1 1 9(a)-(d) or (f).
a)DAII b)D Some * c)D None of:

1 .□ Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.

2. D Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. .

3. Q Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage

application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.

Attachment(s)

1) ^ Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)

2) O Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO-948)

3) ^ Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08)

Paper No(s)/Mail Date .

4) CD Interview Summary (PTO-413)

Paper No(s)/Mail Date. .

5) O Notice of Informal Patent Application

6) □ Other: .

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

PTOL-326 (Rev. 03-11)

Office Action Summary

Part of Paper No./Mail Date 201 1 1 1 10

Application/Control Number: 10/597,633 Page 2

Art Unit: 3771

DETAILED ACTION

Election/Restrictions

1 . Applicant's election without traverse of group X, claims 66,67, 42 and 51 -65 in
the reply filed on 1 0/1 0/1 1 is acknowledged.

2. However, amended method claim 43 and its depending claims 27-41 and 42-50
are directed to a method claim that lacks unity of invention from the system claim
because the product as claimed can be used in a materially different process of using
that product that does not require at least three degrees of freedom of motion.
Accordingly, claims 27-41 and 43-59 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant
to 37 CFR 1 .142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable
generic or linking claim.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103

3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all
obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:

(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set
forth in section 1 02 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and
the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the
invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.
Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.

4. Claims 42, 51-67 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Horst (US 2004/0102723).

5. Re claim 66, Horst discloses a rehabilitation system configuration, comprising a
first rehabilitation device and other like devices (see abstract), the first rehabilitation
device is useful in helping someone in every day task of standing, walking, climbing
stairs and descending stairs at a first place of rehabilitation using an actuator that

Application/Control Number: 10/597,633 Page 3

Art Unit: 3771

includes a movement mechanism capable of applying a force (paragraph 25) adapted to
interact with a motion of a patient's limb in a volume in at least two degrees of freedom
of motion (paragraph 40) of the actuator and capable of preventing substantial motion
(resistance) in any point in any direction in said volume; and, a second (other devices,
paragraph 12) rehabilitation device at a second place of rehabilitation (during walking)
that includes a movement mechanism operable by the patient's limb in at least two
degrees of freedom and capable of preventing substantial motion in any point in any
direction in said volume. Horst does not explicitly disclose that the movement
mechanism is "capable of applying a force that interacts with a motion of a patient's limb
in a volume of at least 30 cm in diameter". However, it would be obvious for one skill in
the art to design the device such that it would be capable of applying a force that
interacts with a motion of a patient's limb in a volume of at least 30 cm in diameter (such
as the knee joint) in order to accommodate various types of exercise in different joints.

6. Re claim 42, Horst discloses a wireless data link (paragraphs 46 and 74)
between the first rehabilitation device and the second rehabilitation device such that the
two rehabilitation devices can act in synchrony (bilateral weaknesses, paragraph 12).

7. Re claims 67, 51 -54, Horst discloses a controller (paragraph 46) adapted to
control the actuator of the first rehabilitation device in accordance with a program
(paragraph 68); the first rehabilitation device at the first place of rehabilitation using a
first operational setting; and, the second rehabilitation device at the second place of
rehabilitation uses a second operational setting (paragraphs 14-15); wherein the first
and second places of rehabilitation are selected from a bed, a wheel-chair (paragraph

Application/Control Number: 10/597,633 Page 4

Art Unit: 3771

64), a clinic, a hospital and a home (paragraph 25); wherein the first operational setting
includes applying a force that interacts with a motion of a patient's limb in at least three
degrees of freedom (paragraph 40, hip and shoulder joints) and the second operational
setting includes applying a force that interacts with a motion of a patient's limb in two
degrees of freedom (paragraph 40, elbow and knee joints);

8. Re claims 55-57, Horst teaches that the device(s) can be operated in a number
of modes: assist mode for enhancing mobility and resist mode for rehab and strength
training and that an individual can be fitted with more than one device to assist different
muscles and to compensate for weakness in a group of muscles (paragraph 12), thus
would suggest that the first operational setting would include a software set and the
second operational setting includes having only a portion of the software set ((different
modes, paragraph 68); wherein the first operational setting includes having a software
set and the second operational setting includes having a different software set (different
modes, paragraph 68); wherein the first operational setting includes a set of modes and
the second operation setting includes having only a portion of the set of modes; wherein
the first rehabilitation device is provided with a first display type and the second
rehabilitation device is provided with a different display type (paragraph 46, display
panel or lights).

9. Re claims 58-60, Horst teaches that wherein the second rehabilitation device is
adapted for the second place of rehabilitation (up and down the stairs at home,
paragraph 25); wherein the second rehabilitation device is adapted by providing
mobility (paragraph 12); wherein second first rehabilitation device is adapted by

Application/Control Number: 10/597,633 Page 5

Art Unit: 3771

changing its size relative to the first rehabilitation device(different types of braces with
different lengths, paragraph 74).

1 0. Re claims 61 -65, Horst teaches that wherein the first and second rehabilitation
devices are connected in a network; wherein the network is provided with a database
shared between at least the first and second rehabilitation devices (paragraphs 69-73);
wherein the system is adapted to generate a report on the patient from the first and
second rehabilitation devices; wherein the first rehabilitation device and the second
rehabilitation device are monitored by the same therapist (paragraph 56); wherein the
first and second rehabilitation devices are adapted to be used by the same patient
(bilateral weaknesses, paragraph 12).

Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to Quang D. Thanh whose telephone number is (571 )272-
4982. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's
supervisor, Justine Yu can be reached on (571) 272-4835. The fax phone number for
the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300.

Application/Control Number: 10/597,633 Page 6

Art Unit: 3771

Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the
Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for
published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should
you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic
Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a
USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information
system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.

/Quang D. Thanh/

Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771